El Al passengers are noting a recent phenomenon involving clusters of ultra-Orthodox men approaching female passengers prior to take-off and requesting to switch seats, according to El Al customers and tour operators.
While the phenomenon of lone Haredi men approaching female passengers is not new, and has in fact gone on for years, large groups of Haredim - upwards of 15-20 people in some instances - are reportedly attempting to secure blocs of seats for themselves. Their persistence is causing consternation and friction, while setting off a host of logistical problems during the course of some flights, according to a number of sources interviewed by Haaretz.
Air Canada lets a passenger pick a seat at the time of ticket purchase. Maybe El Al could set aside a section in the rear of the plane, wall it off so the video screen is not accessible, and designate it "Chareidim-only"
ReplyDeleteYes, it is quite common that airlines will try to seat certain groups together, likes families, so it should not be too hard to seat a group of Chassidim/Charedim traveling together as a block.
ReplyDeleteThe problem is that some may not be traveling as a group, they just don't want to sit next to women. An individual man travelling alone has no one to join as a group, he just wants to be seated next to a man.
(Ah, for the good old days of Tower Air, affectionately known as the Shtiebel in the Sky.)
Charedim should have invented planes but they did not.
ReplyDeleteThey should send some of their best and brightest to become pilots and plane technicians for "parnossah" but they do not.
They could and should learn some basic etiquette when traveling in a world filled with SEVEN Billion goyim, but they do not.
They think the universe does and should revolve around their every whim.
They just expect to get their own way with everything that pops into their over-heated heads.
Now they have an opportunity to create their own airline and stop making everyone crazy with their demands! They could not do this on other airlines if a Chasid has to travel on a goyisha airline he knows he can get bounced off the plane or arrestd for causing arucus, but on El Al, it's mob rule/s. El Al has suffered a lot from Charedim treating its services disrespectfully and unprofessionally.
It should not be that expensive to buy or lease a few good planes for the use of Charedim who travel to visit their Rebbes a few times a year in Israel, even though they are "anti-Zionist" as an example the Ger, Viznitz and Belz Chasidim, and all the Livish yeshiva bochurim and yunge-leit spend tens of millions on airfares every year flying to and from from America and Europe to Israel and back regularly with lots of FREQUENT FLYER miles (a scheme they would never grant to others but they know how to milk airlines for it) so it's surprising some enterprising Chosid hasn't thought of this yet. There have been one or two cheap fare airlines but they went out of business. Anyhow, let's see them do it. Same goes for buses, let them buy buses and run the companies in the frum neighborhoods of New York and Monsey in the USA and Bnai Brak and Jerusalem in Israel -- and STOP making the world crazy just because they are all pumped up with testosterone from all the fat and rich plentiful foods they eat in this bountiful golus of plenty we all live.
In the olden days they were happy to get a fourth class seat on a train, or travel below decks on rat infested ships in steerage class, or happy to be on a horse or mule pulled creaky wagon (and NOT have to trek like the Bnai Yisrsoel did on foot through the Midbar) because they knew a Cossack or goyisha soldiers would beat them to a pulp if they misbehaved and acted like chutpanyaks!
Basically many Charedim (but not all, there are still some eidel ones) have become a pack of mega-spoiled fat-cat loud-mouthed rude brats, acting liked the old-time selfish "aristocrats" from feudal Europe, that expects the world to pander to them and to their every whim. Soon Israel's air flight marshals will have more to do on El Al planes just like the police has to enforce calm on Israel's streets when Charedim spit and punch and break things and curse and throw tantrums when they don't get their own way.